Hyundai has become the first manufacturer to fully unveil its 2022 WRC contender in the form of the I20 N Rally1 car featuring hybrid technology.
WRC is changing. While the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engines remain, they will be assisted by a 100kw electric motor, transforming the internal combustion engine into a hybridised motor. Believe it or not, the engine is about the only thing carried over from the 2021 cars, with Toyota, M-Sport Ford and Hyundai all having to design and construct all-new cars for the new season.
Rally1 cars, as they will be called with the new 2022 regulations, are all required to use the hybrid power and are constructed around a new steel spaceframe chassis that is said to be safer all round. As a result, cars are now 70kg heavier, have reduced aerodynamics (roughly 15%), alongside less suspension travel and the removal of trick centre differentials that has made the 2021 cars some of the fastest WRC machines since the Group B era.
Piloting the 2022 Hyundai I20 N Rally1 cars will be Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak and a combination of both Oliver Solberg and Dani Sordo; although Solberg is expected to compete in the majority of the 13 rallies throughout the championship.
The first round of the 2022 WRC will begin in Monte Carlo on January 20-23, followed by Sweden a month later (February 24-27) and Croatia (April 21-24).
M-Sport Ford and Toyota are expected to reveal their challengers in full this January 15.
You can have a listen to the 2022 Hyundai I20 N Rally1 below:
